Tuesday, 17 October 2017

No Deal is NOT a credible option (A political reboot)

No Deal is NOT a credible
option

It seems quite clear to me that this Utterly Useless Conservative Government
is, despite all warnings and recommendations, going to go for 'No Deal' - a
Hard Brexit. In the view of many this would be a disaster.

The principal reason for this is that the Westminster 'Village', the SW1A
bubble if you like only speak and listen to each other. It seem difficult if
not impossible for them to break the mould. I include in this group the BBC and
its commentators such as Laura Kuenssberg and Andrew Neil. When they speak to
the public, we seem to be used as filler between self reverential pieces to camera.

The peoples of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland comprise the ultimate authority of their nations and are the source of all political power. That fact shall be recognised by the Crown and the Governments of our nations, and our Parliaments and Assemblies

2. Real local democracy:

The foundation of our democracy shall be the counties (or other local units as may be defined), which shall become constitutional bodies exercising under the control of their peoples all powers of legislation, taxation and administration not specifically granted by the people to the national government;

3. Separation of powers:

The executive shall be separated from the legislature. To that effect, prime ministers shall be elected by popular vote; they shall appoint their own ministers, with the approval of parliament, to assist in the exercise of such powers as may be granted to them by the sovereign people of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; no prime ministers or their ministers shall be members of parliament or any legislative assembly;

4. The people’s consent:

No law, treaty or government decision shall take effect without the consent of the majority of the people, by positive vote if so demanded, and that none shall continue to have effect when that consent is withdrawn by the majority of the people;

5. No taxation or spending without consent

No tax, charge or levy shall be imposed, nor any public spending authorised, nor any sum borrowed by any national or local government except with the express approval the majority of the people, renewed annually on presentation of a budget which shall first have been approved by their respective legislatures;

6. A constitutional convention:

Parliament, once members of the executive are excluded, must host a constitutional convention to draw up a definitive codified constitution for the peoples of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It shall recognise their sovereign status and their inherent, inalienable rights and which shall be subject to their approval.

Let us look at Point 3:

3. Separation of powers:

The executive shall be separated from the legislature. To that effect, prime ministers shall be elected by popular vote; they shall appoint their own ministers, with the approval of parliament, to assist in the exercise of such powers as may be granted to them by the sovereign people of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; no prime ministers or their ministers shall be members of parliament or any legislative assembly;

Anyone could stand to be
Prime Minister. They would have to campaign for votes locally and then
nationally to be elected. They would not necessarily come from any political
party. You could thus have an election between Nigel Farage, Nicola Sturgeon,
Theresa May and Kier Starmer.

The winner would be Prime
Minister but NOT a member of Parliament. That Prime Minister would be able to
choose ministers from all walks of life (service chiefs, surgeons, nurses,
teachers, heads of companies etc.) to serve in their cabinets. Such ministers
would have to be vetted by and approved by Parliament either by a select
committee or by the whole House.

Those ministers would not be MP's but they (and the Prime Minister) would
answer questions on the floor of the House of Commons. These appearances before
the elected House would be mandatory. The legislature would thus have a
free hand in holding them properly to account without having to be answerable
to a party system or the whips.

I have written before about
local Government and abolishing the Department of Communities and Local
Government (DCLG)(

The foundation of our democracy shall be the counties (or other local units as may be defined), which shall become constitutional bodies exercising under the control of their peoples all powers of legislation, taxation and administration not specifically granted by the people to the national government

The House of Commons should
not be discussing the local bus service in Newcastle Upon Tyne or the local
walk-in centre in Corby. This should be the responsibility of the County
Council or Local Council. I am in favour of abolishing all National Grants to
local authorities. Return the central tax to the taxpayer and make the County
Council raise their own local tax and be responsible for spending it and being
accountable to the people for their actions.

If Scotland and Wales wanted more independence from England and a majority of
their peoples wanted it they would be allowed to have it except for Defence,
Security (MI5, MI6, GCHQ) and Foreign and Commonwealth Office and any taxation
powers essential to keep these services running. Everything else would be
devolved.

Turning to money there is Point 5:

No taxation or spending without consent:

No tax, charge or levy shall be imposed, nor any public spending authorised, nor any sum borrowed by any national or local government except with the express approval the majority of the people, renewed annually on presentation of a budget which shall first have been approved by their respective legislatures;

It seems to
me that if you can confirm your electoral registration or vote for your
favourite celebrity on "Strictly Come Dancing" via telephone then it
is entirely possible to vote for (or against!) the budget via telephone.

The point of this post is that the political class seems not to be listening
or, if it is listening is not hearing the message which is this:

The Conservative Party can if it wishes for purely selfish party ends - to keep the party united, to placate its think tanks and to abase itself before its donors go for a hard Brexit which will mean in the short term:

No flights outside UK airspace (because no flight plan can be logged because access to EU databases and interfaces will cease on exit), Dover which is not even a Border Inspection Point (Post) or BIP will become a car park, registration of medicines and chemicals will be compromised, live animal exports will probably cease (the nearest BIP in France is in Dunkirk which can manage 5000 consignments a year), Horse Racing and Formula 1 will be endangered and there may be food shortages.

If they do this however it will lead to an horrendous economic downturn and political wipeout for the Conservative party (the only bright spot in the whole landscape). They will not be forgiven in a generation.

The British people have allowed their (our) political class a huge amount of slack and we must never allow them to have that much or anything like that much ever again. Let the people reclaim THEIR power from the politicians.No Deal is NOT a credible option